Two-Minute Drill: Ryan Day Thursday Lightning Round — Sept. 12

Ryan Day took part in his Thursday “lightning round” session with reporters to answer his final round of questions before the team heads off to Bloomington on Friday. He previewed Saturday’s matchup against the Indiana Hoosiers and answered a number of questions about the Ohio State personnel. Here are the highlights.

+ He’s not sure if he will have a clear idea of where this team is after one game, but he’ll have a better idea. “This is the next step.” They took a good step last week. This is another step.

+ The Indiana game two years ago was tough. It was an emotional game. It was hot. The IU offense was coming after them fast and furious. OSU was stalling in the red zone. It was the first time he and Kevin Wilson worked together in the press box and it wasn’t easy.

+ He’s not sure if there’s one position group that is further along than he thought they’d be. He had expectations for everyone. It’s good to see the linebackers running around and hitting.

+ IU QB Michael Penix is a game-time decision, but they have been preparing to see both of Indiana’s quarterbacks in this game.

+ Garrett Wilson is maturing in his preparation and performance in practice. He’s had his best week yet.

+ Harry Miller is doing well. Center as a freshman is a tough place to play. When you don’t notice a center in practice, that’s a good thing, and they don’t notice Miller a lot. It’s rare for him to be in that role as a freshman. It took Josh Myers a while to get to where Miller is now. It’s a tribute to Miller, “he’s off to a great start.”

+ JK Dobbins ran hard last week. It was cleaner last week. The blocking schemes had something to do with that as well.

+ They’ll know more about Jonathon Cooper after practice today.

+ The defensive struggles weren’t every week last year, but they did harbor some of those bad memories for the entire offseason.

+ Dawand Jones is a weapon on field goal block, so they have to figure out how they use him regarding his redshirt. They don’t want to burn his redshirt on field goal blocks, but if it can win them a game, they’ll do it.

+ Tyreke Smith was off to a really good spring, then worked through his rehab following his procedure. He’s one of those guys that we want to be the next Bosa, the next Chase Young, the next guy up. That’s the culture in that room. The more he can keep building on this, the better he can be.